NIH Halts COVID-19 Trial of Testing Convalescent Plasma After Researcher Found No Benefits
The National Institutes of Health said Tuesday it halted a trial testing convalescent plasma in patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 symptoms after an independent group of experts concluded it was unlikely to be beneficial.
The independent data and safety monitoring board met on Feb. 25 to review the data and determined that while the plasma treatment caused no harm, it was unlikely to benefit this group of patients, the NIH said in a release. After the meeting, the DSMB recommended that the NIH stop enrolling new patients into the study, the agency said.
Scientists and public health officials had previously said they were skeptical convalescent plasma was an effective treatment for patients with Covid, even after the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the treatment in August and former President Donald Trump touted it as a “breakthrough.”
